Strategic branding consultancy Coley Porter Bell has today unveiled its new packaging for Pernod Ricard’s Olmeca Tequila range set to launch later this month.
Created to deliver the brand’s premium positioning and its authentic Mexican heritage, Coley Porter Bell has retained the bottle’s distinctive square shape but has reinstated its orange peel glass texture with a hammered-esque glass to generate a more contemporary feel. The Mexican-style hieroglyphs now tell the story of the production, depicting the agave plants, the mountains of Los Altos and the Tahona stone, in acknowledgement of the traditional process used at the Olmeca distillery in Los Altos, Jalisco.
Stuart Humm, Creative Director at Coley Porter Bell said: “Olmeca is a fantastic brand with great product credentials and a distinctive visual language. We were very conscious of retaining all of this, whilst at the same time making it more relevant and credible. It can be tempting to contemporise by stripping everything back and becoming minimal but this was the last thing we wanted to do with Olmeca. It has real character and maintaining this was vital.”
In keeping with the brand’s Mexican legacy, the Olmec head icon, illustrated by Chris Mitchell, has more stature and the identity has been redrawn with a more contemporary, simplified logo.
Coley Porter Bell has also introduced a new illustration of the Tahona stone to the bottle which acts as a seal of quality, and the inclusion of Master Distiller Jesus Hernandez’s signature – an acknowledged expert in the tequila industry – adds reassurance and further quality cues. The consultancy has also introduced the agave plant watermark and decluttered the label and capsule by adding fresher, brighter colours with more contrast and movement, injecting energy and intrigue.
Lisa McCann, Global Marketing Director for Olmeca, added: “With consumer knowledge about the category increasingly growing, Tequila drinkers are looking for a high-quality experience and packaging plays a key role in their selection process. We’re confident that Olmeca’s new premium look, with its combination of authentic Mexican cues and modern, sleek design, will really resonate with our target market and continue to attract party-going trend-setters to the brand."
Credits
Title/Project: Olmeca Redesign
Agency: Coley Porter Bell
Agency contact: Alex Ririe
Agency contact job title: Business Director
Client name: Lisa McCann
Client job title: Global Marketing Director – Olmeca
Planner/CSU: John Clark
Designer: Stuart Humm
Illustrator: Chris Mitchell (Olmeca head icon only)